Stephen, Count of Blois
Stephen | |
|---|---|
 Seal of Stephen | |
| Born | c. 1045 |
| Died | 19 May 1102 (aged 56–57) Ramla,Kingdom of Jerusalem |
| Noble family | Blois |
| Spouse(s) | Adela of Normandy |
| Issue | William, Count of Sully Odo of Blois Theobald II, Count of Champagne Adela Stephen, King of England Lucia-Mahaut, Countess of Chester Philip of Blois,Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne Agnes de Puiset Alix of Joigni Henry, Bishop of Winchester Eleanor of Champagne |
| Father | Theobald III, Count of Blois |
| Mother | Garsinde du Maine |
Stephen Henry(inFrench,Étienne Henri,inMedieval French,Estienne Henri;c. 1045– 19 May 1102) was theCount of Bloisand Count ofChartres.He led an army during theFirst Crusade,was at thesurrender of the city of Nicaea,and directed thesiege of Antioch.Returning home without fulfilling his crusader vows, Stephen joined thecrusade of 1101.Making his way to Jerusalem, he fought in theSecond Battle of Ramla,where he was captured and later executed.
Life[edit]
Stephen was the son ofTheobald III,count ofBlois,and Gersent of Le Mans.[1]He is first mentioned as approachingWilliam the Conquerorto ask for and receive the hand of his daughterAdela of Normandy.[2]In 1089, upon the death of his father, Stephen became the Count of Blois and Chartres, although Theobald had given him the administration of those holdings in 1074.
Stephen was one of the leaders of theFirst Crusade,leading one of themajor armiesof the crusade and often writing enthusiastic letters to his wife about the crusade's progress.[3]Present at theSiege of Nicaea,he wrote that the defenders surrendered out of fear of the siege towers.[4]
At some point either before or at the beginning of theSiege of Antiochin October 1098, he was chosen as 'leader' of the army, a function that seems to not have gone much beyond presiding over the assemblies of the leaders as well as provisioning and housekeeping duties for the armies.[5] Stephen retreated from the siege on 2 June 1098, the day before the capture of the city, leaving his comrades behind in a difficult situation, as a superior Turkish army underKerboghawas approaching. Critically, on the way back to the West he met the Byzantine emperorAlexios I Komnenos,who was marching with an army to assist the crusaders, and persuaded him of the futility of his expedition.[6]
Alexios's consequent decision to turn around contributed to the ongoing suspicion of the crusaders that the Byzantines were not to be trusted and to the later conflicts between crusaders and Byzantium. Having returned with unfulfilled vows and the ignominy of abandoning his comrades, Stephen was in disgrace. His wife Adela pleaded with him to make a second pilgrimage, and he joined the subsequentCrusade of 1101in the company of others who had also returned home prematurely.[7]
He participated in the disastrous campaign in Anatolia to freeBohemondfrom prison, then sailed fromConstantinopletoSt Simeonand thenceJerusalem,finally fulfilling his vows. In 1102, already on his way back home, he was persuaded by KingBaldwinof Jerusalem to fight in theSecond Battle of Ramlaagainst theFatimids.[8]He was taken prisoner and executed, probably inAscalonon 19 May.[9]
Family[edit]
Stephen marriedAdela of Normandy,[10]a daughter ofWilliam the Conqueror,around 1090 inChartres.Their children were:
- William, Count of Sully[10]
- Theobald II, Count of Blois[10]
- Odo, who died young
- Stephen, King of England[10]
- Lucia-Mahaut, marriedRichard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester.Both drowned on 25 November 1120 in theWhite Shipdisaster.
- Agnes, marriedHugh III of Le Puiset[11]
- Eleanor(died 1147) marriedRalph I, Count of Vermandois;they were divorced in 1142.
- Alix (c. 1095 – 1145) married Renaud III of Joigni (d. 1134) and had issue
- Adelaide, marriedMilo II of Montlhéry,Viscount of Troyes (divorced 1115)
- Henry, Bishop of Winchester(c. 1096 – 1171)[10]
- Humbert, died young
A late 14th century source gives Stephen an illegitimate daughter Emma, wife ofHerbert of Winchesterand mother ofWilliam of York,archbishop of York,[12]but recent research suggests a different parentage for her.[13]
References[edit]
- ^Evergates 1999,p. 11.
- ^Brundage 1960,p. 381.
- ^Munro 1902,p. 5-7.
- ^Rogers 2002,p. 23.
- ^Brundage 1960,p. 386.
- ^Brundage 1960,p. 390.
- ^Claster 2009,p. 106.
- ^Brundage 1960,p. 393.
- ^Tyerman 2006,p. 87.
- ^abcdeEvergates 2007,p. 248.
- ^Evergates 2016,p. x.
- ^Davis 1967,p. 172.
- ^Burton "William of York (d. 1154)""Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
Sources[edit]
- Brundage, James A. (1960)."An Errant Crusader: Stephen of Blois".Traditio.16:380–395.doi:10.1017/S0362152900006139.JSTOR27830413.S2CID142071410.
- Claster, Jill N. (2009).Sacred Violence: The European Crusades to the Middle East, 1095-1396.University of Toronto Press.
- Davis, Ralph H. C. (1967).King Stephen, 1135–1154.University of California Press.ISBN978-0582040007.
- Evergates, Theodore, ed. (1999).Aristocratic Women in Medieval France.University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Evergates, Theodore (2007).The Aristocracy in the County of Champagne, 1100–1300.University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Evergates, Theodore (2016).Henry the Liberal: Count of Champagne, 1127–1181.University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Munro, D. Carleton (1902).Letters of the crusaders.Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history. Dept. of history of the University of Pennsylvania.
- Rogers, Randall (2002).Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century.Oxford University Press.
- Tyerman, Christopher(2006).God's war: a new history of the Crusades.Harvard University Press.ISBN9780674023871.
